If you're reading my 31-day series on Worship for the first time, consider clicking over here to my Day 1 post to see the introduction and to find the rest of the posts in the series!
I told you yesterday that Worship is simply speaking Truth and reflecting back to God what His beautiful attributes are. And it's true (I wouldn't lie to you, promise).
But the truth is, if all of worship can be defined simply by words falling from our lips and resting on His ears, then anyone on Earth with a voice could worship Him. Wait what?!
Think about it. Would it be considered worship if a practicing Muslim man, devout in his religion and anything but a Jesus-lover, spoke the words "Jesus saves! He is full of grace! He loves us deeply!" with a face of stone? Or what about the Hindi woman who lays her morning meal before her idols, sacrificing it as an offering, and walks away saying "There is no God but You, Lord!"?? Do either of those people truly worship God? We would say "of course not," but that must mean that there is something more to worship than just the words on our lips and holding a mirror to His truths.
Now, think about someone you have seen before who was truly worshiping. In that moment, they were thinking about nothing other than the greatness and goodness of their God. Their hearts were surrendered, their souls devoted, their lives committed to following Him wherever He leads. They don't just say the words to God... they truly believe and live them. That's the difference between Christian worship and worship of any other religion on Earth... we worship because the One we worship is our treasure.
Recall Paul's words from Philippians 1:21-- "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." The worshipful words he shares in the rest of Philippians about Christ's joy and power and goodness have so much more credibility once the reader understands that Paul's devotion to Him would bring him to literally love to die for Him. Jesus was Paul's treasure, so his worship was pure. It was real. It came from a thirst and hunger after God above all other things.
So, yes, Worship is the act of holding a mirror and reflecting back to God all the goodness that He is. But don't be fooled into thinking that you can fool God; He knows when our worshipful words are grounded in treasure or grounded in lies. And truly, what would be the value of worship if it did not flow from a treasure in our hearts?
My Jesus is my treasure; therefore I worship.
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